Foundation Wall Repair/Replace

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsreallyconc

read somewhere its only rocket science when you're building rockets doubtful the ancients had rockets when they built aquaducts, pyramids, or great walls.

take your time & use common sense - IF it can fall down, support it,,, IF it needs supporting, put in foundations @ final floor elevation,,, spread the top load w/suitable beams,,, get a pe to help design what you need,,, make friends w/your bldg inspector,,, might be able to find retired guys to help think it thru ( we work cheap just to get out of the house & reinforce we're still somewhat relevant )

foundation depth & width are often prescribed by codes,,, in real time, dimensions also depend on steel reinforcement & supporting soils.

we regularly did that work & still do,,, yes, its labor intensive BUT, taken in small bits @ a time, you can do this risk takers do find rewards & many times night mares = BIG $$$

What IRC said is good advice,years ago when I was in my mid 20's I helped a friend raise his house,we did it with 15 ton cast iron railroad jacks,lifted one side and used cribbing,removed the entire wall,and replaced it with cmu's,and let the house down and moved to the opposite side and so on until the 4 sides were done,and it stands today as good as the day it was built.

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Foundation Wall Repair/Replace

Asking around at work, I have heard horror stories of molds that were very well sured-up for pouring concrete walls, but the molds still buckled and broke under the weight. I am thinking I will pour a 16 in. wide by 10 in. deep footer with rebar, and pour maybe 4 inches of concrete for the rotted sections of wooden flooring around the perimeter to get a smooth concrete floor all around. However, I'll do more homework on the local codes for footer depth and width. I'll likely just build a block wall up from there, and I'd like to get a couple glass block windows installed there as well, plus a french drain to avoid this issue again.

For getting the materials into the basement, I was too tired to think last night. As shown in one of my four pictures, you can see the exterior of the "right side" of the foundation that collapsed, and you can see the large gap under the concrete "step". Above said step, there is a deck that is totally rotted out, that is right next to the collapsed wall. I have temporary framing and a few old doors covered by a tarp keeping animals, kids, etc out of the cellar. I could just as easily remove the doors and lower materials through that hole on a slide before the deck is rebuilt, and save the trouble of ripping a floor open.

I'll keep everyone updated on this mess whenever changes occur, likely in a few months. Again, thanks to everyone for the comments and advice!

Foundation Wall Repair/Replace

Well, spent all weekend digging out some of this mess, and I wish I had pictures to show. The good news is that I found a huge concrete chunk burried, similar to the one pictured below that I found on the internet. Mine comes out at least 12 inches high by 12 inches deep. That means less digging, and hopefully a solid footer to build on. Can anyone tell me if this is a footer the would have poured to build a wall on, or whatever other reason they would have poured this giant concrete chunk bellow the wall? Thanks guys. Hoping to get more done in the coming weeks.